Hitmen: True Stories of Street Executions by Wensley Clarkson

Author:Wensley Clarkson [Clarkson, Wensley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781844541195
Published: 2003-04-01T07:00:00+00:00

Back in Dallas, jury selection for the trial of so-called triggerman Andy Hopper went ahead. It took six months to seat the panel and another six weeks for the actual trial, making it one of the longest criminal proceedings in Texan history. Hopper effectively convicted himself thanks to his candid, videotaped confession in which he coldly recited all the appalling details of how he murdered Rozanne Gailiunas.

The jury even heard Hopper admit standing over Rozanne’s nude and bound body as it lay on the bed and masturbating before strangling her with the belt and then firing two point-blank shots into her head. One of Hopper’s jail inmates told the court that he’d confessed to the slaying while they shared a cell. Another friend of the alleged hitman testified that Hopper wrote a letter to him admitting to the murder and showing little remorse for his crimes.

Hopper was found guilty of capital murder, which mandated that he be sentenced to death by lethal injection. The verdict was immediately appealed to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

Meanwhile Joy Aylor remained incarcerated on the French Riviera thanks to highly complex extradition proceedings. It wasn’t until November 1993 that the French officially accepted assurance that she would not be put to death if found guilty. US marshals escorted Aylor back to Dallas County to stand trial – 11 years after the original slaying. When she arrived at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport the once attractive blonde housewife looked drawn and gaunt after so many years on the run.

Jury selection for Aylor’s trial finally got under way in May 1994. Assistant District Attorney Kevin Chapman predicted a complex legal battle. ‘She started it,’ he said. ‘She’s the one that gave it [the murder] all life. But she’s the farthest from the gun.’

Aylor’s trial began on 1 August 1994, before Dallas County state district judge Pat McDowell. It was screened live on Court TV. A dishevelled Aylor was shackled at the ankles when she shuffled into the court and immediately entered a ‘not guilty’ plea. Millions of Americans watched as prosecutors began their case by using two side-by-side projectors – featuring on the left an image of Aylor, the beautiful, blonde and suntanned wife, and on the right screen photos of people and places linked to the case flashed by in sequence. Prosecutor Chapman then outlined the deadly chain of events.

He told the jury that tape recordings of telephone conversations between Aylor and Marilyn Andrews would corroborate the prosecution case. Chapman also told the court that Aylor fled the country because of her fear of being convicted on the murder charge. A stream of witnesses for the prosecution then gave evidence, including officials who arrived at the murder scene, a doctor at the hospital where Rozanne was taken and the medical examiner who performed the autopsy on her body. Then came Albert Neilsen, who’d been living with Aylor in France at the time of her arrest. He’d only been apprehended on a federal fugitive warrant days before the trial began.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.